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First I want to say thanks to Monica and Star for having me here to guest post at the amazing Bibliophilic Book Blog. I’m going to start my guest post with a list of the Top Six Reasons You’ll love my debut novel THE EARTHQUAKE MACHINE. And I’ll follow it up with a short quiz about jobs I’ve done to support my writing habit.

Top Six Reasons You’ll Love The Earthquake Machine

1. It shows that women make really good criminals.

2. You’ll blush when you find out what an earthquake machine is.

3. You’ll learn what it’s like to be tripping on peyote alone at night in the Mexican jungle.

4. The Huff Post says, “The Earthquake Machine belongs on bookshelves next to other fine literature.”

5. It details the sexual coming-of-age of a 14 year-old runaway.

6. It’s a wild adventure story.

7. It’s all about Girl Power!

Okay, readers, here comes the quiz. To support myself while I worked on my novels, I’ve worked as a FOREST FIREFIGHTER, CONSTRUCTION WORKER, AND HOLLYWOOD SCREENWRITER. So the quiz question is:

The shocking answer is #4. Only 10% of forest firefighters, construction workers, and screenwriters of major motion pictures are women! We’ve got a long way to go, ladies!

The good news is we can keep encouraging each other to make art, have adventures and read books that show us the way!

The book every girl should read, and every girl’s parents hope she’ll never read.

The Earthquake Machine tells the story of 14 year-old Rhonda. On the outside, everything looks perfect in Rhonda’s world, but at home Rhonda has to deal with a manipulative father who keeps her mentally ill mother hooked on pharmaceuticals. The only reliable person in Rhonda’s life is her family’s Mexican yardman, Jesús. But when the INS deports Jesús back to his home state of Oaxaca, Rhonda is left alone with her increasingly painful family situation.

Determined to find her friend Jésus, Rhonda seizes an opportunity to run away during a camping trip with friends to Big Bend National Park. She swims to the Mexican side of the Rio Grande and makes her way to the border town of Milagros, Mexico. There a peyote- addled bartender convinces her she won’t be safe traveling alone into the country’s interior. So with the bartender’s help, Rhonda cuts her hair and assumes the identity of a Mexican boy named Angel. She then sets off on a burro across the desert to look for Jesús. Thus begins a wild adventure that fulfills the longing of readers eager for a brave and brazen female protagonist.

Author bio: Mary Pauline Lowry has worked as a forest firefighter, screenwriter, open water lifeguard, construction worker, and advocate in the movement to end violence against women. Due to no fault of her sweet parents, at 15 she ran away from home and made it all the way to Matamoros, Mexico. She’s a regular contributor to the Huffington Post.